Laura Ingraham ridicules Medea Benjamin, Annie Oakley

After a fawning segment with Newt Gingrich earlier, Laura Ingraham, subbing for Bill O'Reilly tonight 2/8/08, let lose with the sharp tongue and interrupted, overtalked, and mocked first Medea Benjamin of Code Pink and then Annie Oakley, a performance art director.With video.

Benjamin was on to discuss actions in the city of Berkley CA, where protests were ongoing against the Marines' recruiting office there. Ingraham, gung-ho for the endless war (why she doesn't support McCain is a mystery) framed the protests as anti-liberal, saying Benjamin and the others were trying to stifle free speech between interested parties. Benjamin as always kept her poise and defended the protests as residents exercising their free speech and noting that Code Pink was helping getting it on the ballot for November. Ingraham brought in a hypothetical that had nothing to do with it - something about a transgender conference - to deflect Benjamin's sensible responses. But much of the "conversation" was badgering by Ingraham, assertions that conservatives love it when liberals make fools of themselves, and general overtalking, sure to earn an attagirl from the big BOR himself.

In the second segment, performance art director and sometime-performer Annie Oakley was brought on to discuss defend her troupe's content. Ingraham kept characterizing it as porn and brought in a hypothetical child, asking Oakley if she'd be happy to see her daughter involved in this? Oakley was clearly on the defensive from the start - I don't know what she expected. Performance art is not my taste and I wouldn't go to this show, but neither would I go out of my way to hurt or insult the artist. This was just meanness for entertainment sake - they found someone way outside the mainstream (and thank goodness for them) and brought her in to treat her like a freak.

This was Friday night theater for the Factor cultists. The contrast with the reverent treatment of "Mr Speaker" couldn't be more stark.